Obama Tax Hikes...So Far

Yesterday, President Obama made the following comment in Miami about the Tea Party rallies on Tax Day:

"In all, we passed 25 different tax cuts last year. And one thing we haven't done is raise income taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year -- another promise that we kept," he told supporters at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. "So I've been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes. You would think they would be saying thank you."

You know what? You're right, Mr. President. We should be thanking you. Not for keeping your actual promise never to raise "any form" of taxes on families making less than $250,000 (as opposed to the stripped-down promise you make above).

No, taxpayers should instead be "thanking" you for the following tax hikes you have signed into law (so far):

• a hike in the tobacco tax
• a new tax on individuls not purchasing and employers not providing "qualifying" health insurance
• a 40% excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans
• a new "medicine cabinet tax" on over-the-counter purchases from HSAs, FSAs, and HRAs
• increasing the non-medical early withdrawal HSA penalty from 10 to 20 percent
• a "special-needs kids" tax (capping FSA contributions at $2500)
• an increase in the top Medicare payroll tax rate from 2.9 to 3.8 percent (in so doing raising the top marginal tax rate on labor from 37.9 to 43.4 percent)
• a hike in the capital gains rate from 15 to 23.8 percent
• a hike in the dividends tax rate from 15 to 43.4 percent
• a hike in the "other" investment tax rate from 35 to 43.4 percent
• an increase in the "reduction of the deduction" for medical expenses from 7.5 to 10 percent of AGI
• new annual taxes on health insurance companies, innovator drug companies, and medical device manufacturers--which will make
• a 10% excise tax for tanning salon sessions
• eliminating the deduction for employer-provided retiree Rx coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D
• creating the "economic substance doctrine," which allows the IRS to disallow perfectly-legal tax deductions it deems are only being used to reduce tax liabilities
• requiring 1099-MISC information reporting for small business payments to corporations, increasing compliance burdens for small employers

If that's not enough thanks for you, Mr. President, maybe we should also be thanking you for the new taxes that you or your advisors have proposed on top of these tax hikes:

• a European-style value-added tax (VAT)
• a "bank tax," even on financial institutions that never received a dime of bailout money or who paid their bailouts back with interest
• restoring the death tax from totally gone (this year) to either a 45 or 55 percent rate (depending whom you ask)
• a dangerous new "cap and tax" energy tax on every American family who uses energy
• raising taxes on investment partnership managers, which will result in lower profit sharing for charities, universities, and pension plans
• restoring the "Superfund" tax for trial lawyers
• repeal "LIFO accounting," which is a tax hike on every America using liquid energy sources
• imposing a whole host of international tax hikes which will drive jobs and capital offshore
So thank you, Mr. President, for all you've done for us this Tax Day week.

Ryan Ellis, EA
Tax Policy Director of ATR

Back At Ya! Initiatives Filed To Repeal Democrat Taxes

Tim Eyman took direct aim at the $668 million of new taxes Democrats passed in Olympia on Monday by filing eight seperate initiatives to repeal them. Stay tuned.

Tax and Run

One of the state Legislature's top lawmakers voted to increase your taxes on Saturday, and then announced her retirement today. Of course she did!

Democrat House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler told the House today that she will not run for re-election in November.

Kessler has been in the Legislature for 18 years and served in the majority leadership team for about a decade. As majority leader, she is the second-ranking Democrat in the state House.

But even that position would not have protected her from the voters - the very real families and businesses she targeted with a multimillion-dollar package of tax hikes she helped pass.

So for Kessler it was tax and run...before November.

Not Enough Doctors

The very real concern of a shortage of doctos was raised in this Wall Street Journal article today:

The new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already scrambling to train more doctors.

Experts warn there won't be enough doctors to treat the millions of people newly insured under the law. At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

That shortfall is predicted despite a push by teaching hospitals and medical schools to boost the number of U.S. doctors, which now totals about 954,000.

The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. These general practitioners, internists, family physicians and pediatricians will have a larger role under the new law, coordinating care for each patient.

The U.S. has 352,908 primary-care doctors now, and the college association estimates that 45,000 more will be needed by 2020. But the number of medical-school students entering family medicine fell more than a quarter between 2002 and 2007.

A shortage of primary-care and other physicians could mean more-limited access to health care and longer wait times for patients.

Click here to read the rest of this article.

"Hardly Surprising" Americans Personal Income Down Since Obama/Biden Took Office

Real personal income for Americans - excluding government payouts such as Social Security - has fallen by 3.2 percent since President Obama took office in January 2009, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

For comparison, real personal income during the first 15 months in office for President George W. Bush, who inherited a milder recession from his predecessor, dropped 0.4 percent. Income excluding government payouts increased 12.7 percent during Mr. Bush’s eight years in office.

“This is hardly surprising,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist and former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. “Under President Obama, only federal spending is going up; jobs, business startups, and incomes are all down. It is proof that the government can’t spend its way to prosperity.”

According to the bureau’s statistics, per capita income dropped during 2009 in 47 states, with only modest gains in the other states, West Virginia, Maine and Maryland. But most of those increases were attributed to rising income from the government, such as Medicare and unemployment benefits.

Two of the most populous states in the country reported dramatic declines: Per capita income in California dropped 3.5 percent to $42,325; in New York, the drop was 3.8 percent to $46,957.

“The evidence from New York and California reinforces a basic lesson: Where government gets too large, prosperity suffers. Let’s hope that the Congress learns this lesson before it is too late for the country as a whole,” said Mr. Holtz-Eakin, who also served as chief economic policy adviser to Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama often derided Mr. Bush for what he said were dramatically falling incomes for workers.

“American families, since George Bush has been in office, have seen average family incomes go down $2,000,” Mr. Obama said in a September 2008 speech on the economy in Green Bay, Wis.

The bureau, which doesn’t compile statistics on “family” income, reported that per capita income rose during Mr. Bush’s two terms, from $29,159 to $32,632 (using 2005 dollar values as a base). During Mr. Obama’s 15 months in office, per capita income has dropped nearly 1 percent to $32,343.

The dropping numbers show that the $862 billion stimulus package has not turned the tide on dropping incomes.

Washington Times

Democrats Give Us The Largest Tax Increase In State History

Today Democrats in Olympia did the only thing they know how to do - raise our taxes.

Not a reform or restraint in sight, they only had eyes for our paychecks proving once again they are perfectly willing to hurt and even destroy employers and working families with the largest tax increase in state history.

Taxes include:

• A 0.30% increase in the B&O tax on all services except hospitals and scientific R&D = $242 million;
• DOT foods = $155 million;
• Cigarette($1 per pack) and other tobacco products = $101 million;
• B&O tax on economic income (Nexus) = $84.7 million;
• 50-cent per gallon (28-cents per six pack) beer tax = $59 million;
• Sales tax on bottled water = $32.6 million;
• Sales tax on candy/gum = $30.5 million;
• 2-cent per 12-ounce soda tax = $33.5 million;
• Taxes on business structure transactions = $8.5 million;
• B&O tax increase on property management salaries = $6.9 million;
• B&O increase on certain canned meat products = $4.1 million;
• B&O tax increase on mortgages = $3.6 million;
• B&O tax increase on corporate officer salaries = $2.1 million;
• Tax increase on bad debts = $1.7 million;
• Tax increase on livestock nutrient management = $1.3 million;
• Tax increase on PUD electric bills = $1.2 million;
• Personal liability for tax debts = $1.1 million.

“Families and small businesses are being targeted by new tax increases that will kill jobs and come at the worst possible time in a down economy. These new tax increases highlight an approach that refuses to reform state government in meaningful ways and embraces business as usual in Olympia.

“There have been solutions on the table since day one of the legislative session that would have created jobs, prioritized government and reformed the budget process. Nearly all of these solutions were pushed aside in favor of new tax increases.” Rep. Doug Ericksen

November is coming.

Imagine All Your Purchases Costing 20% More...

VAT = Very Abominable Tax

President Obama is vetting a new national sales tax (commonly referred to as a VAT) to extract more wealth from the private sector to sustain his insatiable hunger for more government spending.

Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have commenced a vetting strategy to convince Americans that they need to give more and more money to an every-expanding and bloated federal government. Congress needs to just say no to a VAT — and increased taxation — as part of any pitch by this Administration to balance the budget.

Volker and Bernanke have used a two pronged strategy to vet the VAT. First is fear mongering. Bernanke argues that Americans need to choose between higher taxes or massive cuts in critical government programs.

He mentioned Social Security, Medicare, Education and Defense as areas of government spending that would be targeted if we don’t raise taxes. This is a false choice. The federal government needs to reform entitlement programs, needs to root out waste fraud and abuse and should eliminate programs like the National Endowment for the Arts.

The deficit incurred by the federal government has reached about $12.8 trillion and next year’s projected deficit is record breaking at $1.6 trillion. Obama’s solution? Not cutting government, not ending bailouts, not entitlement reform, and not stopping the Stimulus.

Instead, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday commenced a debate on higher taxes yesterday, see the Washington Post: To avoid large and ultimately unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above.

White House economic advisor Paul Volcker, and former Chairman of the Fed, urged the United States to follow Europe and impose a Value Added Tax (VAT). The Washington Examiner has this description of a VAT:

A VAT is a national sales tax that would be collected by retailers. But it can also be imposed on products as they make their way through the manufacturing process. That is, the tax for a single product is paid by manufacturers, producers, and business that add value to the product, as well as by the consumers. Critics argue that the VAT is a regressive tax that unduly places the burden on the poor.

The reason why elites in Washington would look to a VAT before increasing income taxes (and, believe me, higher income taxes are coming) is because not enough of the population even pays income taxes to make it worthwhile for the government to use the income tax structure to balance the budget.

According to the Tax Policy Center, only about 47 percent of Americans will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Meanwhile, the government can extract the most amount of your wealth from a national sales tax (VAT) and Volker’s statement yesterday evidences a will on the part of this Administration to start the fear mongering process to tee up higher taxes.

Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric on the part of the agents of President Obama when they try to downplay the effort to impose higher taxes on all Americans. Volker and Bernanke would not be messaging for higher taxes if this Administration did not want them to.

A VAT, national sales tax, would be the end of economic freedom as we know it, because the federal government would then have the power to tax all aspects of our lives. Until Washington can restrain spending, we should not entrust it with the power to create a brand new tax.

by Brian Darling

An Obamanation Against Free Enterprise

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the Obama administration is banning internships within private businesses.

Barack Obama is telling teenagers and college students, who are now suffering through a 26% unemployment rate, that they are not allowed to volunteer their time in the free market in exchange for acquiring valuable and relevant job skills that might, just might, get them off the unemployment line — and that ignores the ability to make valuable connections through networking in the workplace and build relationships for future careers and opportunities.

“If … you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law,” the Labor Department’s Nancy J. Leppink tells the New York Times.

Since the nation was formed and even before that, apprenticeships and then internships have been a key way for students to acquire valuable jobs skills.

Companies would, frequently through college programs, agree to put a student to work teaching the student a trade. The company would get free labor and the student would, at no cost, get job skills.

It is a tried and true method of acquiring skills in this country. But the Obama administration is declaring such an act against the law.

If you want to work as a Congressional or White House intern, for Organizing for America, or any other non-profit, they’ll let you do it.

But if you want to actually work for a business that produces goods and services in the free market? You’re screwed as is the business.

And guess what? Existing workers will be spread more thinly and college kids will wait longer and longer for jobs.

Barack Obama is opposed to the American free enterprise system. Barack Obama is opposed to an individual’s right to make the individual’s own decisions about what is in the individual’s own best interest.

by Erick Erickson

Where Is My Free Health Care?

By Margaret Talev, McClatchy

Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.

"They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states.

McLean said the call center had been inundated by uninsured consumers who were hoping that the overhaul would translate into instant, affordable coverage.

That widespread misconception may have originated in part from distorted rhetoric about the legislation bubbling up from the hyper-partisan debate about it in Washington and some media outlets, such as when opponents denounced it as socialism.

"We tell them it's not free, that there are going to be things in place that help people who are low-income, but that ultimately most of that is not going to be taking place until 2014," McLean said.

You can read the rest of this article here.

Democrat Showdown in Olympia

In Olympia Democrats are in a showdown with Democrats (they have all the power there) over how to raise your taxes. It's getting kind of interesting as reported by Austin Jenkins:

Today marks the start of week three of a legislative special session that, when Gov. Chris Gregoire declared it, was only supposed to last seven days. Each day that passes, Gregoire ratchets up her rhetoric. She’s moved from simply frustrated to now “disgusted” that lawmakers have yet to resolve their differences.

Majority Democrats in the House and Senate are locked in a stare-down over whether to hike the sales tax. The Senate says yes, the House and Gregoire say no. But the governor refuses to flash her veto pen.

Both chambers are so dug in that lawmakers have been sent home to resume their normal lives. Left behind to negotiate are Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown. On Friday, reporters staking out the third floor of the Capitol witnessed Chopp and his chief of staff cross the rotunda to meet with Brown.

Half an hour later, Chopp emerged with little more to say than he still opposes the sales tax. Brown then invited reporters into her office and offered the first hint that the Senate may blink first. She said she’s begun looking for $200 million in taxes that could replace the Senate’s proposed two-tenths-of-a-penny sales tax increase.

What those alternative revenue sources might be, Brown isn’t saying...yet.

Obama Month-by-Month

If They Succeed We Will Be Less

by Aaron Gardner

Today I was reading an article [make sure to read the whole thing] from National Review’s print edition written by Richard Lowry & Ramesh Ponnuru. In this article Ponnoru and Lowry do well in explaining the roots of American exceptionalism, and how the same has become a part of the core of our culture.

Here is the definition of American exceptionalism distilled to a single paragraph.

The late Seymour Martin Lipset defined it as liberty, equality (of opportunity and respect), individualism, populism, and laissez-faire economics. The creed combines with other aspects of the American character — especially our religiousness and our willingness to defend ourselves by force — to form the core of American exceptionalism.

After their brief history, the National Review duo then pivot their focus to the Obama administration’s agenda and it’s discomfort with American exceptionalism.

As is pointed out, this feeling of discomfort is mutual …

The popular revolt against Obama’s policies is a sign that Americans are not prepared to go gentle into that good night. Other factors are of course in play — most important, the weak economy — but the public is saying “No” to a rush to social democracy.

Although the conservatives, libertarians, and independents who oppose Obama’s health-care initiative may not put it in quite these terms, they sense that his project will not just increase insurance premiums but undermine what they cherish about America.

Those Americans who want to keep our detention facility at Guantanamo Bay think it necessary to protect our security — but they also worry, more profoundly, that our leaders are too apologetic to serve our interests.

Americans may want change, even fundamental change, but most of them would rather change our institutions than our national character.

We are engaged in a battle of permanence versus change, in which the object of conquest is nothing less than our national character, the idea of American exceptionalism.

Russell Kirk lays out, in more verbose form than Buckley’s “Standing Athwart History Yelling Stop”, the role of the conservative in this battle.

The intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise.

The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.

Surely, if we do not take up this battle and challenge this cult of Progress, we will, as Lowry and Ponnoru note, be less.

It is madness to consider President Obama a foreigner. But it is blindness to ignore that American exceptionalism has homegrown enemies — people who misunderstand the sources of American greatness or think them outdated.

If they succeed, we will be less free, less innovative, less rich, less self-governing, and less secure. We will be less.

Reading, Writing and Abortion

When she signed a consent form, Jill figured it meant her 15 year old could go to the Ballard Teen Health Center located inside the high school for an earache, a sports physical, even birth control, but not for help terminating a pregnancy.

"She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center," she said. "Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion."

Jill says her daughter was given a pass, put in a taxi and sent off to have an abortion during school hours all without her family knowing.

"We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus," said Jill. "They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility."

Swedish Medical Center runs the clinic at Ballard High and protects the students' privacy.

KOMO News

Bill to Repeal ObamaCare

Today, U.S. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) introduced legislation to fully repeal the Democrats’ government health care takeover that President Obama signed into law Tuesday morning. 12 Republicans have already cosponsored this bill including Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Robert Bennett (R-Utah), Kit Bond (R-Missouri), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Ensign (R-Nevada), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), George LeMieux (R-Florida), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) and David Vitter (R-Louisiana).

“This fight isn’t over yet, Republicans are standing with the American people who are demanding we repeal this intolerable act,” said Senator DeMint. “We must repeal this bill and start over. There are commonsense solutions we can implement to expand health care freedom and choices, lower premiums, and increase quality. But this bill will force taxpayer funding of abortions, raise health costs, hike taxes, cut Medicare, raid Social Security, and put bureaucrats between patients and their doctors.

“In ramming through a bill that forces government into the most personal aspect of our lives, the President and his Democrat Party have revealed themselves as being radically to the left of the American people. They will lose this fight in the end; the American people cherish their freedom and will defend it this November,” said Senator DeMint.

TEXT of Senator DeMint’s bill to Repeal ObamaCare:
To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REPEAL.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the amendments made by that Act, are repealed.

Another Three Days in Olympia, Another Teacher

Go home already. That is the sentiment of citizens as they watch Democrats spend another $14,000 per day keeping the Washington State Legislature in session.

Enough! You had an entire sixty day regular session to spend our money and raise our taxes. This special session is ridiculous, and the amount of money it takes everyday to be in Olympia is double ridiculous.

“Every three days they keep us in session equals the cost of a teacher,” said State House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt, who is among the lawmakers choosing NOT to collect his daily financial allowance for being in session."

“This is a family quarrel right now among Democrats over which taxes to increase. Once they agree on the tax increases, we can come back to Olympia and wrap up the session in a day or two.”

Taxing us the only option being considered by Democrats, and they hold all the legislative cards to raise them.

“When the time comes to debate these bills, we will do our best to provide a voice for the citizens who cannot afford higher taxes during these tough economic times."

"In the meantime, however, the taxpayers should not be paying the price for the Democrats’ inability to get their work done.”

With one week in to this "not-so-special" session, and no end in sight, we agree with Rep. DeBolt.

Go home already! At least attempt to save taxpayers THAT money.

WA to Challenge Democrat Health Care Bill

KING 5 - Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna says Washington will be one of at least ten states that will file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform bill.

"The individual insurance mandate is unprecedented in American history in requiring the American people to go out and buy a product in the private market," said McKenna.

The House voted 219-212 late Sunday to approve the overhaul, which would extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans and make a host of other changes.

No Republicans voted for the bill and 34 Democrats voted no. McKenna is a Republican.

Obama could sign the bill as early as Tuesday.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said he planned to file the complaint "the moment Obama signs the bill."

What Didn't Change With Last Night's Vote

59% Of Americans Oppose The Health Bill, 70% Believe The “Budget Deficit Will Go Up”

CNN: “Do You Generally Favor It Or Generally Oppose [Healthcare Legislation]: “Favor 39% Oppose 59%.” “As you may know, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are trying to pass final legislation that would make major changes in the country’s health care system. Based on what you have read or heard about that legislation, do you generally favor it or generally oppose it? Favor 39% Oppose 59%.” (“CNN Opinion Research Poll,” 3/19-21/10, P.2)

• “From What You Know Of That Legislation, Do You Think You And Your Family Would, In General, Be Better Off, Worse Off Or About The Same If It Becomes Law? Better off 19% Worse off 47% About the same 33%.” (“CNN Opinion Research Poll,” 3/19-21/10, P.5)

• “From What You Know Of That Legislation, Do You Think Senior Citizens Who Are Currently On Medicare Would, In General, Be Better Off, Worse Off Or About The Same If It Becomes Law? Better off 20% Worse off 45% About the same 34%.” (“CNN Opinion Research Poll,” 3/19-21/10, P.6)

• “From What You Know Of That Legislation, Do You Think The Federal Budget Deficit Will Go Up, Go Down, Or Stay The Same If It Becomes Law? Go up 70% Go down 12% Stay the same 17% No opinion 1%.” (“CNN Opinion Research Poll,” 3/19-21/10, P.6)

SRG

Never Despair by NRO

‘Nil desperandum” — never despair. That is a sentiment that conservatives need to take to heart now that Congress has narrowly passed a bill that simultaneously undermines life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It takes some ingenuity to add to the costs, inefficiency, and dysfunctions that government has already bequeathed to our health-care system, but the Democrats have proven themselves up to the challenge.

Almost nothing about this legislation is free of dispute, but we are convinced that it will increase taxes, increase premiums, and increase debt, while decreasing economic growth, job growth, and the quality of health care.

The Democrats had no mandate to take these steps. In 2008, the president campaigned both against forcing people to buy insurance and against taxing their benefits. The legislation runs counter to the campaign on both points.

NRO Editors

The president promised to change Washington. He has made its stench more noisome, winning this vote by using every kind of deceit and (legal) corruption, and over the objection of a bipartisan coalition representing most Americans.

We are now being told that the campaign to repeal this legislation is over before it has even begun, that Americans will come to appreciate the benefits that a bountiful government is giving them, and that the growth of the welfare state can never be reversed.

We understand the odds against repeal. We understand, indeed, that complete repeal of every provision of the bill is impossible. The doughnut hole — a gap in Medicare’s prescription-drug coverage designed to encourage seniors to economize — has been filled, and it is not going to be re-opened.

But the larger thesis seems as superficially plausible, and as ultimately convincing, as were earlier predictions that state socialism or secularization were our inevitable future.

It is quite possible that the majority of America that rejects this legislation will get its way in the next few years — if it is given the right leadership. And it is worth the effort to try.

It is possible, for example, that the results of the legislation will turn out to be unpleasant more quickly than most observers realize.

The bill requires insurers to charge people with pre-existing conditions the same as everyone else, and the only reason for people not to game the system — dropping their insurance until they get sick and the insurer has to take them — is because the law requires them to buy insurance or pay a fine.

For many people, the fine will be a cheap price to avoid premiums that could run around $8,000 a year for a family of four. The effect of the legislation could be to cause the number of healthy people with insurance to fall dramatically — and for premiums to rise, which would cause more people to drop their insurance.

If this happens, we can expect liberals to agitate for a single-payer system; but we can also expect the public to blame the Democrats whose health-care system it will now be. A less lopsidedly Democratic Congress is not going to respond to this chaos by enacting single payer or strengthening the fines.

For that matter, the lengthy legislation could turn out to have little time bombs, the nature of which cannot currently be guessed. Nothing about the process that produced the legislation, after all, suggests that it was put together with careful consideration.

Conservatives will be able to capitalize on the discrediting of Obamacare, however it takes place, only if they campaign this fall on a pledge to replace this government-heavy system with true reform.

Republicans running against Democrats who voted for this legislation will have the easiest task. But even Republicans running against Democrats who voted against it can advance the cause by challenging those Democrats either to advocate repeal and replacement themselves or to expose themselves as false opponents of Obamacare.

Nor have pro-lifers lost the war. Pro-lifers should campaign this fall on a pledge to make the Hyde amendment — the partial ban on government funding of abortion, which now applies to portions of federal spending and has to be renewed each year — a permanent feature of law that applies to all federal spending.

The Obama administration and most of liberaldom have pretended over the last year to favor both the principle in general and the Hyde amendment in particular. And the principle is popular. Their posturing, disingenuous though it was, has handed pro-lifers a winning issue.

The Democrats have abused the system, ignoring both the Founders’ design and public opinion. The first step toward undoing that abuse is to make them pay a political price for it.

by NRO Editors

219-212

The Reality of an Executive Order

1. An executive order can be rescinded any time. President Obama could reverse it next week, next month, or next year. Should another pro-abortion president be elected in the future, it could be rescinded on inauguration day.

2. An executive order will not prevent insurance companies that provide abortion from participating in the exchanges.

3. Abortion funding in the health care legislation can be only be removed using the legislative process. An executive order not only doesn’t fix the problem, it isn’t needed to fix the problem, and could not stand a legal challenge. If Democrats are serious about protecting taxpayers from funding abortion in the health care bill, they must use the legislative process to fix the problem.

Marjorie Dannenfelser

Happy Warriors

“This is a historic day, and we are happy warriors. We will be a part of history, joining Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s passage of Social Security, Lyndon Johnson’s passage of Medicare and now Barack Obama’s passage of healthcare.”

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.)

Battle By Phone

Members continued to be inundated with phone calls from constituents and interest groups Friday thanks to an impending vote on health care reform this weekend.

Calls to the House numbered close to 100,000 an hour, creating a bottleneck in a phone system only meant to handle 50,000 calls an hour.

The chamber has been similarly overloaded for four consecutive days, beginning on Tuesday when radio host Rush Limbaugh told viewers to call the Capitol switchboard phone number.

Roll Call

Here are the numbers if you still want to call:

877-762-8762 or
202-224-3121 or
202-225-3121

Consequences of the Democrat Health Care

President Barack Obama and members of Congress received a letter on Thursday signed by more than 130 economists predicting the health care legislation they are pushing through will discourage private sector businesses from hiring more workers causing both a reduction in hours and wages for those currently employed.

Caterpillar Inc. is but one real-life example of the consequences which will be brutal to many businesses in the privates sector, and fatal to even more.

They know this legislation will increase their company's health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone. The Peoria-based company said its insurance costs will increase by at least 20 percent, more than $100 million.

Caterpillar also expressed it's concerns in a letter sent directly to House Speaker Pelosi.

"We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors," said the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer of Caterpillar.

And why would we purposely put businesses providing good living wage jobs in the position of being unable to compete anyway?

It isn't that this message hasn't been given to legislators, it has...repeatedly! What the message hasn't been is heard.

Both citizens and business owners are discouraged that concerns raise to Democrat legislators have fallen on deaf ears, and it appears that despite harm to the private sector they remain committed to passing their damaging health care reform legislation.

Speaking Fluent "Democrat"

In Olympia the majority party has just announced this special session will likely last more than a week. Senator Ed Murray, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, made several comments to the press about this speaking fluent "Democrat". No worries, I'll translate for you:

"We are in an unprecedented economic crisis," .

Translation: We spent way more money than we've taken from you...yet.

"Sixty days and probably 67 days is not going to be enough to solve this problem."

Translation: We're going to need more time to figure out how to take more of your money.

"The thorniest issues really are about revenue. That's sort of, what I would say, the major sticking point."

Translation: The word "revenue" used by any Democrat is always to be translated "taxes" or "other people's money".

Murray said general agreement has been reached on an $800 million revenue package but "there is not agreement over the pieces."

Translation: It's really quite difficult for us to decide what "pieces" of your money to take.

Never forget, YOU are the only "revenue" they have.

Administration Removes American Flag

You might want to sit down for this story. USA Today reported this week that the Obama Administration has ordered U.S. military personnel in Haiti not to fly the American flag.

Here’s the official explanation for this outrageous decision, “We are not here as an occupation force, but as an international partner committed to supporting the government of Haiti on the road to recovery.”

That’s the most absurd statement I’ve heard in a long time. Everyone knows why we are there, what we are doing there and why the United States of America is shouldering the overwhelming majority of the burden. By the end of January, the United States had given $180 million in aid to Haiti.

And what about our “international partners”? Well, they’re all still proudly flying their flags. Apparently, the French, British and the Croatians aren’t worried about being perceived as occupiers.


Gary Bauer

90 Seconds to Government Run Health Care

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Fellow Patriots, Stand Firm For Liberty

Pulling the Plug on our Constitution

By Mark Alexander

"If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people ... must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify." --Federalist No. 331

Our Constitution is on life support2, and House Democrats are about to pull the plug.

Leaders of the Democrat Party ("Progressives" as they call themselves, Leftists as we call them) have been unable to garner popular or even Democrat Party support for their plan to socialize our health care system. Fortunately, Republicans are united in their opposition to this one issue.

Barack Obama3, titular head of the Demos, proclaimed, "I want some courage. I want us to do the right thing."

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concludes, "Nobody wants to vote for the Senate bill."

She is proposing to overtly circumvent our Constitution by way of the "Slaughter Solution." Rep. Louise Slaughter, chairman of the House Rules Committee, proposes to pass legislation using the "self-executing rule," which will allow the House to accept the already-passed Senate health care bill by presumption alone, thus negating a formal up-or-down vote by House members.

Pelosi confessed, "I like it because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill."

Unfortunately, there is precedent in invoking the "self-executing rule" -- by Republicans, no less -- concerning "mundane" legislation agreed to by House leaders of both parties. Unconstitutional as these precedents are, there is nothing "mundane" about ObamaCare.

"Slaughter" and "self-executing" may describe both the process and the electoral future of many Democrats in the House.

Most of the Leftist-controlled political and popular debate about the Democrat proposal to turn over to the central government control of more than 17 percent of the U.S. economy, is focused on one question or another -- what will it cost or save, who will pay and who won't, who will be covered and for what, will there be enough physicians to support this in 10 years, will federal funds be used for abortion, can our economy afford another trillion dollar boondoggle, does it really address the entitlement cost tsunami we're facing, ad infinitum.

These might be interesting topics for debate, but none are germane.

The only relevant debate must begin with First Principles4, our Constitution and Rule of Law.

Does our Constitution allow the Executive and Legislative branches to collaborate to confer authority upon the federal government over, in this case, so-called "health care reform"?

Those who laid the Foundation of our Constitution were crystal clear about its enumeration of both the authority and limits upon the central government.

James Madison, our Constitution's primary author, wrote, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined [and] will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce."

Madison continued, "If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions."

To that point, Thomas Jefferson asserted: "[G]iving [Congress] a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole [Constitution] to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please. Certainly, no such universal power was meant to be given them. [The Constitution] was intended to lace them up straightly within the enumerated powers and those without which, as means, these powers could not be carried into effect."

Clearly, our Constitution, does not authorize Congress to nationalize health care, anymore than it authorizes Congress to do most of what it does today.

That notwithstanding, Obama and his Leftist cadres in the House and Senate are moving forward with their endeavor to inflict socialized medicine upon the United States.

They have again, one and all, abandoned their oaths to "support and defend5" our Constitution.

Democrat "leaders" have all been questioned about constitutional authority, and have uniformly asserted6 that the question is irrelevant.

Typical of their non-responses was this indignant question from Speaker Pelosi: "Are you serious? Are you serious?"

Such utter contempt for our Constitution explains why Democrats refuse to support any measure to cite constitutional authority for legislation. For example, the Enumerated Powers Act (HR 1359) would require that "Each Act of Congress shall contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act," but for years, insurmountable obstacles have prevented passage of HR 1359 -- and you know who they are.

As for the Slaughter Solution, Article 1 Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates, "Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, and that in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively."

Typical of Republican protests about this effort to evade the Constitution's prescription for passage of legislation, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) called the ruse "the acme of arrogance" and the "shredding the U.S. Constitution."

Unfortunately, more than a few Republicans have dabbled in such unconstitutional chicanery. Thus, I am reminded of the admonition regarding hypocrisy in Matthew 7:4-5. In contemporary terms, Republicans must first demonstrably abide by First Principles before calling on Democrats to do the same.

The only silver lining to this cloud: If Democrats pass ObamaCare, every medical complaint by a Democrat constituent will be hung around their necks.

Fellow Patriots, stand firm for Essential Liberty7 for we still hold these Truths8.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Links
1.http://patriotpost.us/document/federalist-papers/federalist-33/
2.http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/10/15/our-constitution-is-on-life-support
3.http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2008/04/11/obama-pathos-part-1-barack-who
4.http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/03/11/when-debating-a-liberal-start-with-first-principles
5.http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2008/11/14/our-sacred-honor-to-support-and-defend
6.http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/10/29/nobody-questions-that
7.http://essentialliberty.us/about/introduction/
8.http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/07/02/we-still-hold-these-truths

Code Red on Health Care

Contact Your Rep, Tell Them To Vote NO On Obamacare

Capitol Switchboard: 877-762-8762 or 202-224-3121

CODE RED - LIST OF REPS WHO ARE UNDECIDED

40,000 Calls an Hour

House Getting 40,000 Calls an Hour

House administrators estimate that Capitol switchboard operators are fielding roughly 40,000 calls per hour from constituents and that perhaps just as many callers are experiencing busy signals a full day after radio host Rush Limbaugh gave his listening audience the Capitol switchboard phone number and encouraged them to call it.

That means that in an eight-hour window, the Capitol is being deluged with more than 300,000 phone calls, said Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the Chief Administrator’s Office. The barrage is about 10 times what the switchboard usually receives, he added.

“This doesn’t surprise me. It’s going to be that way all week, until they vote [on health care reform]. No doubt about it,” he said. “For everyone who doesn’t get through, they’ll just say to themselves, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’”

Limbaugh continued his efforts to encourage constituents to call Congress, posting an article to his Web site called, “Pedal to the Medal: It’s Time to Flood Congress with Calls, E-mails.” The article includes the switchboard number and a link to a National Republican Congressional Committee list of Congressmen that should be targeted as potential swing votes on the health care reform bill.

The telecommunications onslaught comes as the House prepares to vote on a health care reform bill as early as this weekend.

By Daniel Newhauser

The Very Real Pain of Progressive Rule

Yesterday our community was greeted with one more consequence of Progressive majority rule - the pain of unemployment as reported by Dave Gallagher of the Bellingham Herald:

Whatcom County's unemployment rate reached 10 percent for the first time in more than 20 years as private sector industries reported job losses across the board.

The rate has risen significantly the past two months.

In January the unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department. In December, it was 8.3 percent. Since 1990, when the ESD started using the current method for tracking unemployment, Whatcom County has not had double-digit unemployment.

In February 10,540 people were actively seeking work locally, up more than 2,000 compared to February 2009. There are also a number of discouraged workers - those that have given up looking - whom the ESD doesn't track at the county level.

Jim Vleming, regional labor economist for the state, reiterated what many economists across the country have been predicting: Jobs will be one of the last areas of the economy to recover.

"This is going to be a recovery that will happen one job at a time; there won't be a sudden rise," Vleming said. "It's going to start with a small-business owner becoming confident enough to hire one or two more employees because sales have picked up, not from big companies significantly adding jobs."

While all Whatcom County private industries had decreases, Vleming was particularly concerned about the local leisure and hospitality sector. He expected at least some ramping up for the Winter Olympics last month, but instead the industry employed 8,600 people, down by 700 compared to February 2009.

Construction continues to be one of the hardest-hit sectors. In February the industry employed 5,500 people in Whatcom County, matching the January total, which was the lowest monthly total in eight years...

Nearby counties continued to be hit hard. Skagit County's unemployment rate rose to 12.4 percent in February, while Snohomish was at 10.5 percent.

Meanwhile across Washington State similar headlines reveal the depth of the pain. Here are a few more headlines:

• Kitsap County unemployment at highest rate in two decades (Kitsap Sun)
• Thurston jobless rate hits 9% (The Olympian)
• Lewis County jobless rate hits 15 percent in February (The Chronicle)
• Washington state unemployment rate rises to 9.5 percent (Puget Sound Business Journal)

Special Session? Hasn't Legislature Done Enough Damage?

Excerpted from the Yakima Herald-Republic Editorial

Lawmakers are in the process of spending more money than they did last year. That's not a misprint. It's thanks to an expected windfall of $500 million from the federal government and a laundry list of tax increases, from a possible sales tax boost to taxes on bottled water and cigarettes.

Instead of making systemic reforms to how this state is run and pays for its priorities, the Legislature, led by the Democratic majority, has stuck to spending models that have remained unaltered despite coming into this session with a $2.8 billion shortfall.

And guess what? If Congress fails to come forward with yet another bailout for states, and if the economy keeps slogging along in first gear, the state could face a $2 billion shortfall when lawmakers return to Olympia next year to craft another budget. We wonder how many more times lawmakers will slap a $1 tax on a pack of cigarettes to balance the budget.

The majority also seems intent on keeping state employees happy regardless of the economic realities. While private employment in Washington has dropped by 7.5 percent, the decrease in the total number of state workers, outside of higher education, amounted to just 0.7 percent, according to The Seattle Times.

And what happened to taking a tough stand on state employee contracts and asking them to share some of the pain? That never happened. State employees contribute only a 12 percent share of their health care premiums. By raising the level to 20 percent -- still below the national average in the private sector -- the state could have saved $50 million over the next two years.

Instead, we get lawmakers telling voters that after cutting education funding by siphoning off money for smaller classrooms, they will allow cash-strapped school districts to raise their levy lids and get more revenue through local property taxes.
That may look good on paper, but in reality it's a pipe dream. Rural districts like those in Central Washington can't ask property owners to pay more. The levy lids have peaked. Richer districts, though, have much lower rates and could benefit from the legislation.

The end result is that rich school districts will get richer and poorer districts will be left behind -- as they too often seem to be.
Don't expect lawmakers to suddenly mend their ways during this special session. Taxes will rise, spending will increase and the next budget shortfall will be set in motion.

May the gavel finally drop on the Legislature and end this tortured process. We can't afford lawmakers to be in session one minute longer.

Tipping Point Ahead for the Republic

Tipping Point Ahead for the Republic

Here are two data trends that should concern all Americans. First, from The Heritage Foundation’s recent Index of Dependence on Government, we see the long-term rise in dependency on government programs. Note that the data used by the Index runs only through 2008 (and thus does not measure the impact of the federal government’s 2009 spending binge on dependency). The Index reached its highpoint in 2006, but the long-term upward trend is clear.

Meanwhile, the Tax Foundation reports that in 2008 more Americans than ever earned an income without paying any income taxes at all: 51.6 million—36 percent of all filers.

If these trends continue, it won’t be too long before the better part of the population can simply vote itself more and more benefits at the expense of a wealth-creating minority. That is not a formula for self-government that can last.

by Alex Adrianson

Majority Party Keeps Spending Your Money

March 05 2010

‘We’ve been down this road before and it leads to budget deficits, unsustainable spending and broken promises,’ says Alexander

The Washington State House of Representatives passed its 2010 supplemental operating budget this evening by a vote of 55-43. Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia and ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, released the following statements:

Rep. Gary Alexander

“Instead of being driven by courage to do what’s right, we’re being driven by fear to do what’s convenient.

I can’t support a state budget that cuts only one percent of spending when our families and employers across the state have cut so much deeper.

“Democrat budget writers propose using a combination of one-time federal money, budget transfers, selected cuts to government, and the largest tax increase in state history, to prop up a state government that has become too large, too fast.

We’ve been down this road before and it leads to budget deficits, unsustainable spending and broken promises.

“The tax increases this budget assumes are not what we need to give taxpayers and employers confidence and help bring our state out of this economic recession.

I can see no upside for struggling families and employers who will have more money taken out of their pockets by a government that seems to disregard them.

“This is a tone-deaf budget considering what the taxpayers and the public have been saying.”

Rep. Richard DeBolt

“This budget ignores the plight of working families who are facing double-digit unemployment and trying make ends meet within their household budgets. The Legislature has failed to address the real problems citizens are facing. They want jobs and the chance to take care of their families without the interference of government.

Instead, with this budget, they get business as usual and a billion-dollar tax increase. House Republicans believe in balancing the budget without raising taxes by establishing the priorities of government. This budget says government is the priority.”

Quick Budget Facts

• The operating budget is on a two-year cycle, with midcourse adjustments made in even-numbered years through a supplemental version. It is facing a $2.7 billion shortfall for one year.

• The operating budget is the largest of the state’s three main budgets, along with the capital and transportation budgets, and pays for K-12 schools, corrections and public safety programs, government and judicial operations, higher education, and health and human services.

• The $30.678 billion House supplemental operating budget seeks to close the $2.7 billion budget shortfall through:

• new tax increases ($900 million);
• federal funds ($641 million);
• state fund transfers ($236 million);
• spending cuts ($653 million); and
• the state rainy day fund ($229 million).

• With the recent suspension of the Taxpayer Protection Act (Initiative 960) through Senate Bill 6130, only a simple majority in the Legislature (50 state representatives and 25 state senators) is needed to increase taxes. Not one Republican in either the House or Senate voted for Senate Bill 6130.

• The state had a $1.8 billion surplus in the 2005-07 budget cycle, driven by extraordinary real estate excise tax revenue. State spending grew by 40 percent, or more than $8 billion, from 2005 to 2009 and created the shortfall that now requires a billion dollars in new taxes.

Washingtonton House Republicans

The Faces of Democrat Bipartisanship

I'm sorry, but this from Politico is just to rich to not post with this picture. Enjoy!

There have been some tense moments during today's health care summit at the Blair House, but not for Vice President Joe Biden, it seems.

Just moments before the afternoon session got underway, C-SPAN's cameras picked up audio of Biden chatting casually with participants.

"It's easy being vice president — you don't have to do anything."

Whomever Biden was chatting with said, "It's like being the grandpa and not the parent."

"Yeah, that's it!" replied Biden.

Biden spokesman Jay Carney tells POLITICO that the vice president was "obviously joking, as any review of his schedule and responsibilities would make abundantly clear."

Healthcare Charade

Today, the administration will put on another show for the American people. The nationalized healthcare naysayers have been summoned to the White House to give their ideas on healthcare reform. Yet, the President announced his newly packaged plan days ago. So what’s the point?

Is this a meeting to exchange ideas and move forward in a bipartisan manner or a meeting to say this is my plan, get on board or get out of the way?

The American people see this meeting for what it is.

But, what I don’t understand is how this administration can continue to think that the people aren’t smart enough to see that for themselves.

We keep hearing that the White House has an open door and that this is the most transparent Congress in the history of our country. The door may be ceremonially open, but the window to hear the people must be closed.

The public has overwhelmingly rejected the idea that the government knows what is best for the rest of us.

Congressman Ted Poe

Hope & Change Tanking

A year after backing Barack Obama by an overwhelming 2-to-1 ratio, young adults are quickly cooling toward Democrats.

A study by the Pew Research Center, being released Wednesday, highlights the eroding support from 18-to-29 year olds whose strong turnout in November 2008 was touted by some demographers as the start of a new Democratic movement.

The findings are significant because they offer further proof that the diverse coalition of voters Obama cobbled together in 2008 – including high numbers of first-timers, minorities and youths – are not Democratic Party voters who can necessarily be counted on.

Huffington Post

With the economy being the number one concern for young people, the Republicans can position themselves as the champions of the free market and capitalism, so long as they remain solidly committed to opposing more bailouts and big government.

Matthew Hurtt

Washington State Senate Race In Play

Tracking 2010 U.S. Senate polls and projections, Freedom's Lighthouse is calling the Washington State Senate race a "toss up". That is NOT good news for incumbent Senator Patty Murray.

With multiple announced candidates vying for her seat the "mom in tennis shoes" may face an even greater challenge as it appears several big names are still interested in challenging her and may soon enter the race.

Big names or not, recent state polling done by Rassmussen and Moore indicate she is far more vulnerable than many expected. Murray continually polls less that 50 percent, even against Republican candidates with no name familiarity.

Eighteen years of Murray in office may be long enough for Washington voters, and our State may finally see a Republican win in 2010.

Eagle Forum at CPAC

Today marks the first day of the 2010 CPAC – Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest national gathering of conservatives in the U.S.

Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly spoke to the exceptionally large crowd this afternoon on the topic Saving Freedom from The Enemies of Our Values

Nearly 12,000 people are attending this year’s event, which runs through Saturday, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Washington State Citizens Lose Their Voice

If the will of the people stands in your way, suspend their voice.

That is the message Democrats in the House sent tonight to Washington State voters when they passed SB 6130 suspending the tax restraint voters placed on them in 2007 through I-960.

Legislators now plan to unleash a series of bills raising our taxes to pay their bills.

And as a result "we the people" will unleash an aggressive effort to unseat all 26 Senators and 51 House members who voted yea. Count on it!

Statement from Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale:

“Citizens across this state who are worried about their financial well being lost their voices tonight. Majority Democrats have decided to defend the status quo in state government at the expense of struggling families and employers.

At a time when there should be public hearings on solutions to restructure state government and create jobs, majority Democrats have decided to focus on ways to increase taxes and fees in a down economy.

It really reveals an out-of-touch approach and is why so many people have grown distrustful of business as usual in Olympia.”

Quick Facts:

The Taxpayer Protection Act (I-960) passed in 2007. Current law requires: a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for tax increases; public e-mail notifications for tax increase proposals; and citizen advisory votes on tax increases.

Senate Bill 6130, as passed by the state House, would remove the two-thirds vote requirement of the Legislature for tax increases immediately after being signed into law by the governor.

There are currently 77 bills in the state House that, when combined, would increase taxes and fees by $11.46 billion in the state’s next two-year budget cycle.

Happy Stimulus Day or Celebrating Failure

Today is the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the $787 billion stimulus bill, and the administration is putting on a hard sell for the American people. There will be a White House reception today to mark the anniversary. Later this week, Vice President Joe Biden and various cabinet secretaries will fan out across the country to host dozens of rallies touting the stimulus package’s success.

Exactly what are they celebrating?

• President Obama told the American people that Congress had to pass the Democrat stimulus bill in order to keep unemployment from rising above 8%. After hundreds of billions of dollars were spent, unemployment hit 10% last year and remains near that figure today. On the most critical measurement of success laid down by the president, the bill is an abject failure.

• In promoting the stimulus, President Obama promised us that the funds would be spent on timely, “shovel ready” projects. In spite of the financial emergency that necessitated the biggest spending bill in American history, if not world history, just one third of the stimulus funds have been spent. So much for “shovel ready.” More than 2.5 million Americans lost their jobs last year, while most of the stimulus money intended to “save or create” jobs went unspent.

• President Obama promised us that the stimulus funds would not be wasted, and he named Vice President Biden “stimulus czar.” We now know hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars were spent to create jobs overseas. We learned that thousands of jobs were created in places that don’t exist.

President Obama promised that 90% of the stimulus jobs would be created in the private sector. An analysis by the New York Times found “the data suggests that well over half of the jobs claimed so far have been in the public sector.”

But, wait – there’s more. USA Today reports that billions of stimulus dollars are being spent on programs so inefficient or redundant that even Barack Obama wants to cut or eliminate them!

Instead of doing a victory lap around the country on the taxpayers’ dime, Obama and Biden ought to be apologizing for the biggest boondoggle in history. Instead, they are having a Marie Antoinette moment – while millions of Americans have lost their jobs, Obama is spending their money to create jobs overseas and grow the government. Now he wants to tell us what a great deal this has been!

Gary Bauer

ACTION ALERT - Protect Jobs & Taxpayers

Dear friends and neighbors,

We are now into our second day of a fierce battle on the House floor to protect taxpayers against the Democrat assault on Initiative 960, the Taxpayer Protection Act. This is the measure voters approved in November 2007 which requires the Legislature to have a two-thirds approval before taxes can be raised.

Senate Bill 6130 would gut the initiative and clear the way so that Democrats can raise taxes and take more of your hard-earned money. I am fighting, along with my fellow House Republicans, against this measure.

Last night, we held a seven-hour near filibuster on the House floor to oppose this bill and demand that our government produce a fiscally-sound budget that finds efficiencies and cuts spending, rather than ask taxpayers to bail out legislators’ bad spending habits.

Here is an excerpt from my speech last night on the House floor:

Mr. Speaker, I spent the majority of my life in the service of this country. I’ve been on the battlefields of two continents, fighting because the will of the people meant something. Because our Republican form of government meant something. And because freedom meant something. Because it’s freedom that creates prosperity, Mr. Speaker. It’s freedom that reduces poverty, Mr. Speaker.

And it is freedom that increases charity. Taxes are not going to do that! The power to tax is the power to destroy. And that’s why the people put the Taxpayer Protection Act into law, and put those shackles on us and on government. The people never stand in the way. The people are where we get our power from. And that, Mr. Speaker, is something we are fighting for! Please table this bill!

Friends, the will of the majority of Washingtonians is to keep I-960 in place to guard against onerous tax increases. The assault is not just against I-960 – it is against every taxpayer, every family in our state.

Again, we were on the floor this morning, fighting to stand up for the will of the people. At noon, the House went at ease, but it will again take up this issue tonight at 8 p.m.

I invite you to watch the debate on TVW or go to www.tvw.org.

I will do all that I can to stand against this job-killing measure, but I also need your help.

Please call and or e-mail the House Speaker’s office TODAY! Tell the House Speaker to STOP SENATE BILL 6130 and UPHOLD INITIATIVE 960!

House Speaker – Phone: (360) 786-7920;
E-mail: chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov

PLEASE CALL TODAY!

Sincerely,

Matt Shea
State Representative

Pushing Back

Thousands Push Back in Olympia today telling Democrats to balance the buget without raising taxes.

Democrats prefer to use the "R" word - revenue. Well, they can call it whatever they like, but every dollar they spend is a dollar they have taken.

No End to Democrat Greed

Is there no end to their greed?

Representatives Chase, Williams, Hunt, Dickerson, Flannigan, and Moeller have proposed a 100 percent increase in all death tax brackets for Washington taxpayers. HB 3184 would raise the top tax rate from 19 to 38 percent.

And to show just how much disdain they hold for taxpayers, the sponsors slapped an emergency clause onto the bill to deny the people the right of referendum.

Amber Gunn
Freedom Foundation

A Coincidence...Ya Think??

With their desperation to raise taxes clocked somewhere near "frantic" the Democrat controlled legislature has scheduled their hearing on SB 6130 (overturning I-960) for Saturday at 9 AM...which just happens to coincide with Republican caucuses being held all over Washington State.

How convenient...I mean, what a coincidence.

It is also interesting to note that Democrats are sooooooo interested in citizen input that they have cancelled their grassroots caucuses state-wide.

Now that's the real party of "no".

Support the Movement

KVI morning talk show host and all-around funny guy Bryan Suits will be in Olympia this afternoon (4 p.m.) to set up an I-960 voting booth for legislators in the form of an outhouse—a symbolic gesture of lawmakers’ treatment of Washington state taxpayers. Go support the movement if you’re so inclined.

Raising Your Taxes

Higher government costs are cutting another $96 million from the state's already hurting budget.

That's the word from the state Office of Financial Management, which reported its latest estimate of state costs Wednesday.

The change means the state's budget deficit gets a little bit larger - now, it's closer to $2.7 billion. Officials say higher teacher costs are the biggest factor in this latest change.

State lawmakers are planning to raise taxes and cut state spending to balance the budget. The Democrat-led Legislature is about halfway through its scheduled 60-day session.

AP

Jindal Leads "Louisiana Way Forward."

The first-term Republican governor Bobbie Jindal stakes out his fiscal position directly in what he calls the "Louisiana Way Forward."

"The Louisiana Way we are taking to move our state forward through these economic challenges is exactly opposite the Washington way," Jindal said.

"In Louisiana, when our revenue is down we really only have two choices -- raise taxes on our people or our businesses to keep government spending the same, or tighten our belt and find savings.

We will not raise taxes and balance the budget on the backs of the Louisiana people.

We will not follow Washington's lead and spend money we don't have or borrow money we can't pay back."

The governor's proposed spending plan will reflect recommendations made by two cost-cutting commissions, empaneled at Jindal's request. They were charged with identifying ways to reduce the size and cost of state government and public higher-education, while improving the efficacy of both.

What Goes Around...

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs mocked Sarah Palin during his daily press briefing by writing a “grocery list” on his hand with the words, “milk, bread, eggs, hope, change.”

Maybe the rest of us should write little notes on our hands like “9.7” and “$1.6 trillion.” When folks ask us what that means, we can explain that they are “reminders of Obama’s accomplishments – 9.7% unemployment and a record budget deficit for one year.”

Gary Bauer

Ghost Bill - Only in Olympia

From WPC:

A strange thing happened in Olympia today. This morning a bill was introduced in the Senate, SB 6853, which has no text. The full bill can be seen using the link below.

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Ways and Means Committee this afternoon. Committee members may decide to pass it today and send it to the full Senate, going against the rule that legislation be made public for at least five days before being acted on.

This bill may make major changes in the tax code, and could result in a significant increase in the tax burden state lawmakers place on citizens, so it would be nice to know what the bill actually says.

As independent policy analysts, it is hard for Washington Policy Center, or anyone else, to make a fair assessment of a major bill when the public has no idea what it says, or how it may affect our lives.

See for yourself.